George Takei is crowd-funding part of his new Broadway musical using IndieGoGo.
George Takei (from Star Trek fame) has long worked on bringing a new musical, Allegiance, to Broadway. Allegiance will be inspired by Takei’s own childhood, when he and his family were taken to one of America’s Japanese internment camps. According to the official description, “Allegiance tells the epic multi-generational tale of deep family loyalty, romance, humor, optimism and unparalleled heroism in the face of fear and prejudice against Japanese-Americans during World War II and beyond.”
Allegiance had a very successful run at San Francisco’s Old Globe Theatre in 2012, and Takei immediately expressed desire to transfer the show to Broadway. Indeed, the reason Takei built up an Internet presence was to raise awareness for the musical. But there was a snag: Allegiance was a big show that needed a big theater, and no theater was made available for it for several years. In February, in was finally announced that Allegiance would arrive on Broadway this coming fall, in a Schubert-owned theater to be announced.
Now, to fund the musical, George Takei is reaching out to the fans. While most shows are funded by producers and investors, George Takei wants to raise money via crowdfunding. All the money raised will be treated as if it were invested by the Japanese American National Museum. JANM will therefore be vested in the show, proportional to the amount of money raised. Should Allegiance turn out to be profitable, JANM will receive royalties from it forevermore, creating a perpetual source of income for JANM. George Takei describes this as “the intersection of my art and activism.”
After 17 days, the IndieGoGo has surpassed its original goal of $250,000; at time of writing, it is 114% funded. Helping put a show on Broadway and helping create a revenue source for JANM seems like a win-win, and this writer has already contributed. In exchange for contributing, all donors will have their names added to a virtual “Wall of Fame” on the show’s website. Visit the IndieGoGo page here.
Allegiance will begins previews October 6, and will open November 8. In addition to Takei, it will star Telly Leung (Glee) and Tony winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables).
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